Should I send or share?

Introduction

Send: Like sending an email with attachments

Sending files and folders using the Aspera on Cloud Packages app is very much like sending an email with attachments. Senders use a simple form to address recipients and attach content. Recipients receive a copy of the content and can download it to use however they want.

Share: Like collaborating in a shared file repo

Sharing folders using the Aspera on Cloud Files app is like collaborating using a shared file repository. Each user has access to certain folders in the repo, with specific permissions to each folder and its contents. Files app users can share their folders with others, assigning content permissions to each recipient. Keep in mind that when you upload to your Files app, no one sees your folder until you share it with them.

Send: Send a copy of files and folders using the Packages app

Use the AoC Packages app to send, receive, and request files and folders.

When you send files and folders, you send a copy of the source content to your recipients.

• You cannot modify the copy once you send it. Changes you make to the source content do not affect the copy you sent.
• Changes the recipient makes to the copy do not affect your source.
• Your recipient can act in any way on their copy of the content you send. Unlike sharing, you do not assign permissions to content you send.

You can send files and folders from any connected source: your own computer, an attached drive, share, or cloud storage, your Files app, and so on.

To request files, send a submission link, also called a file request. Such a link enables another user to send files and folders to you.

Who can send to whom?

By default, any workspace member with access to the Packages app can send files to and request files from anyone else. Workspace members may also be able to send to users and groups outside the workspace.

As an admin, you can protect content security by using any of several options to restrict valid recipients outside the workspace. If necessary, you can keep all Packages app exchanges within the realm of the workspace. For details, see Collaboration: Open or closed? and Content security in the Packages app.

Share: Give others access to your source content using the Files app

Use the AoC Files app to share folders.

When you share a folder, you give others access to your source content. The folder content is live: all users with shared access can update folder contents and see the updates others make. You assign access permissions to the folder for each person you share with. These permissions determine what that person can do with the folder you share.

Who can share with whom?

By default, any workspace member with access to the Files app can share folders with anyone else. As an admin, you can protect content security by using any of several options to restrict valid recipients outside the workspace. If necessary, you can keep all Files app exchanges within the realm of the workspace. For details, see Collaboration: Open or closed? and Content security in the Files app. For configuration procedures, see Files App: Using a shared file repository.

Shared content permissions

When you upload a folder to your Files app, you have all permissions to it. When someone shares a folder with you, you have the permissions they assign to you.

When you share a folder, you assign permissions to each user you share with. You can assign, at most, only the permissions that you yourself have to the folder; you can also share a folder and grant fewer permissions than you have to it.

For example, if a colleague shared a folder with you, giving you Browse, Preview, and Delete permissions, you can share that folder with another person, giving them the same Browse, Preview, and Delete permissions that you have. You can also share the that folder with only Browse permission. But you cannot share the folder with Download permission, since you don't have that permission to the folder. For a full discussion, refer to Content permissions.